A Dundee woman who had the fright of her life on Halloween is backing NHS Tayside’s stroke awareness campaign.
June McNeil (71) suffered a stroke in her sleep on Halloween two years ago. A fitness fanatic with none of the risk factors for stroke, she had walked for miles on the weekend before she was taken to Ninewells Hospital and didn’t return home for nearly three months.
Mrs McNeil said: ”I always kept myself very fit, never suffered high blood pressure and never smoked. I have always watched my weight and, before my stroke, went swimming, went to the gym, played golf and hiked. That’s all gone. I can’t do that now.”
She added: ”The thing is you just have to accept the life you had before is gone and you just have to make the best of what you have got left. It could have been a lot worse.”
The grandmother-of-five said that, two years on, she is still weak on her left side and walks with a stick.
Mrs McNeil did not realise she had suffered a stroke, but said her husband Jim knew something was wrong.
She said: ”He called our daughter Kim, who lives in Carnoustie and said he didn’t like the look of me. My daughter said to phone 999 and get the paramedics down because time is of the essence.
”She told me that whenever she arrived at my house and saw my mouth all droopy, she knew it was a stroke. And there was me thinking there was nothing wrong with me.”
NHS Tayside is holding roadshows in Tayside this week to raise awareness of stroke symptoms, using the FAST campaign:
F stands for face can the person smile normally? Does their mouth droop? A is for arm can they lift both arms normally? S is for speech can they speak clearly? T is for time time to call 999 if any of these signs are present.